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"FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA." 



A NARRATIVE 



RESIDENCE AT THE SOUTH 



PREVIOUS TO AND DURING 



THE SOUTHEM REBELLION, 



UP TO NOVEMBER, 1863, 



WHEN THE WRITER ESCAPED FROM RICHMOND. 



BY MRS. E. C. KENT. 



SECOND EDITION WITH ADDITIONS. 



BUFFALO : 
FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE. 

1865 



t 



t«^ 




FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 



God has given to eacli one of us a genius peculiar to ourselves. 
Some call this genius a disposition or inclination of the mind. 
Some call it a guardian angel. Others call it a genius. This 
genius is continually prompting us ; beckoning us ; and cheering 
us onward. In its hand it holds a shining light. 

If we give our hearts to God and follow the promptings of this 
genius, keeping in the immediate influence of its light, our hearts 
will glow with genial warmth, our souls will expand, and our 
progress will be onward and upward to the spirit from which we 
emanated. 

We do not follow tlie promptings of this genius as we should. 
The mass of us follow public opinion, until we learn by our own 
sufferings, or by the sufferings of others, that it is wrong, and that 
it has led us darkling through the world. 

We should always cherish the deepest respect for the opinions 
of good people. We should cherish due respect for public 
opinions, but we should also do whatever our Ijands findeth to do 
with all our might. 

I am well aware that the narrative which I am about to pre- 
sent to you is crude, and incomplete. But, I am also aware that 
it is the best I could make with the little time and talent I could 



4 FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 

command, and that it is my duty to not waste my energies in 
useless repinings and regrets, but to look upward and onward, 
and to keep hoping, praying and doing. And I am led to hope 
that the incidents which I shall relate, will present, at least, a faint 
view of the Southern character, and of the Southern country as 
it is now; and, as it has been since the rebellion. 

Some of the most thrilliDg scenes in which my son was a 
prominent actor, I have not attempted to describe accurately, 
because I could not do so with the positive assurance of its not 
bringing serious trouble upon persons who befriended us in our 
trouble. 

My son went South from Cincinnati early in the fall of 1859. 
In December of the same year I followed him to Mississippi, 
where he was employed as shipping and receiving clerk at a 
landing on the Yazoo river, and I was employed as teacher in a 
family not far distant from his place of business. 

On my arrival in Mississippi, before the rebellion broke out, I 
was surprised to meet with persons occasionally, who advocated 
secession. 

I was also surprised to find that free speech was actually not 
tolerated, and that tyranny aud oppression in other frightful forms 
were stalking over that beautiful land, infusing its deadly poison 
in the minds of the people, who were breathing the atmosphere 
of that delicious clime. It seemed that a few leading spirits had 
marked out a channel for public opinion, so exceedingly narrow 
as scarcely to admit of free thought. In that channel all were 
forced to sail. 

The clergymen, with a few exceptions, seemed to think it the 
main object of pi'eaching to prove slavery a divine institution. 
Those clergymen who did not preach that doctrine were not toler- 
ated. If I had acknowledged that I could not endorse slavery 
as a divine institution, I would have been in danger of violent 
treatment. If my son had acknowledged as much, he would 
have been in great danger of losing his life. 

We know that the suT)ject of slavery has not been open for 
discussion in the South for many years. Now the question is, 



FOUR YEARS IK SECESSIA. 5 

can anything be right that will not bear discussion? Again, can 
it be right to prohibit tlie cultivation of intellect, or of anything 
that is susceptible of cultivation. 

The gentleman in whose family I first taught advocated seces- 
sion in the strongest terms. He would invoke for the " Yankees " 
all the plagues and tortures he could invent, wishing for power to 
sweep them from the face of the earth. He took great delight in 
listening to, and in giving accounts of horrible murders and other 
deeds of cruelty, and the relish with which he would listen to 
such accounts, and relate them himself, was awfully disgusting. 

One of the scenes, on which he most delighted to dwell and 
gloat over, was that of a negro writhing in the flames, and swear- 
ing vengeance upon his tormentors. According to the story, as 
he related it, this negro had poisoned his master, and to punish 
him, and also to terrify the other negroes, he was tortured to death 
in the flames. He said that this was a powerful negro, and diffi- 
cult to manage, — that he was chained to a tree, and that while he 
was burning, he struggled so violently, in his intense anguish, 
that he freed himself from the chain, and he ran so rapidly, and 
fought so desperately, that it was with great difficulty that he was 
caught again, fastened at another ' place, and finally burnt to 
death. 

He related other stories equally revolting, which I could nar- 
rate, but I do not. like to dwell upon them, and they would be 
similar to many which have already been placed before the public. 
Some of these will be recorded in the history of our time, and 
they will be read by future generations, with even more horror 
than we feel when we read of the barbarous deeds that were 
perpetrated in the dark ages. 

This man was also a strong advocate of dueling. A successful 
duelist was, in his opinion, deserving of high honor and esteem. 
Indeed, the generality of Southern people place a successful 
duelist as high on the pinnacle of fame as we place those who 
have achieved the greatest moral and intellectual victories. 

According to his own story, he had been a terror to negroes 
during the whole of his long life, being then over sixty years of 



6 FOURYEAKSINSECESSIA. 

age ; and be had made himself eminently active by hunting run- 
away negroes, and by detecting those who were contemplating 
escape ; and by inflicting upon them the greatest pliysical pain, 
with the least physical injur}-. 

He was also very expert in detecting thievish negroes. When 
other plans failed to detect the thief, the negroes on the plantation 
were whipped until he was exposed. Many of you who are here 
to-night can judge of the moral effect which this treatment must 
produce upon the negroes, and the uncertainty of its detecting 
the guilty one. You can also judge of the character which it 
must develope in the white children who were reared in this 
atmosphere of misrule and cruelty. Yet this man had the appear- 
ance' of a gentleman! He would receive you with a gracious 
self-complaisant air, and he would extend to you such hospi- 
talities, that you would upon a slight acquaintance really think 
him a gentleman of the first stamp. 

At first, when I heard him dwell upon the tortures he had 
inflicted, and tell how he would delight to serve the " Yankees " 
in the same way, I expressed my horror freely. I told him that 
I was a " Yankee," — that I had never heard any one talk so 
before, and that I could not believe him in earnest. But I soon 
found that he was in earnest, and that it would not do to persist 
in calling myself a "Yankee." I also found that it would not do 
to say much about the North; — especiallj^ in the way of com- 
parison with the South. 

On one occasion, he was furiously angry at a man in Vicks- 
burg, whom he called a " Yankee,'' and whom he swore he would 
shoot. He belonged to the church, and he swore by the grace of 
God that he would kill the " Yankee." 

I felt great surprise and horror, and I expressed it. 1 told 
him that church members did not swear in the North. I also 
told him that if a man in the North should publicly threaten to 
kill another man he would be arrested. This incensed him 
beyond endurance, and I am confident that his gallantry, for 
which he was distinguished, even among Southerners, was the 
only thing that saved me from violent treatment, and even from 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 7 

death. He said he would not be guilty of treating a lady harshly, 
but that it would not do for a man to provoke him as I had done. 

When he saw l was really frightened he said I had nothing to' 
fear, that ladies were entitled to be protected by gentlemen, and 
that he considered himself a gentleman. Still he persisted in 
relating the most horrible deeds of cruelty in my presence. 

And this sympathy, which I expressed, and which the majority 
of Northern people feel for suffering, is what the Southerners call 
cowardice. The best of them, have from their infancy, been 
accustomed, not only to witness, but to inflict the most intense 
physical suffering. Hence it is impossible for them to appreciate 
that sympathy for suffering, which the Northern people feel, who 
have been reared under more refining influences. 

In the fall of 1860, I was employed to teach a district school 
in Mississippi. In this situation I was to receive fifty dollars per 
month, besides board and washing. The school averaged about 
eight scholars. In the meantime the excitement in the South 
was progressing with fearful intensity. 

At the end of four months, when the time arrived for me to 
receive my pay, I was told that there was no money in the treasury. 
At this, the gentleman who employed rae, and who was authorized 
to employ the teachers, was greatly enraged. He declared that 
there was an abundance of money in the treasury. He explained 
to me how the money was received, — how much had been 
received, and how much paid out, and although he was, according 
to his own story, a strong secessionist, he hinted to me that it was 
only because I was from the North, " that there was no money in 
the treasury." He said he hated the " Yankees " himself He 
had voted the secession ticket, but he did not believe in treating 
a lady that way, simply because she happened to be a native of 
a country he disliked ; and he denounced those who did so in 
the strongest terms. 

This gentleman was a Scotchman by birth, and of good educa- 
tion, but he had lived in the South for many years. He was 
shrewd, and had acquired a property which might be considered 
quite a fortune by many ; comprising four hundred acres of land, 



8 FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 

besides horses, cattle, &c. But he had only two negroes. I often 
wondered why he did not have a greater number. I did not 
■believe his conscience forbade, therefore I concluded that he con- 
sidered himself better off without them. 

During my residence in Mississippi, I did meet with a few 
slaveholders, who declared that they wished that there had never 
been such a thing as slavery. But this was rare. And those 
who had no slaves, especially if they were poor, could not have 
uttered such sentiments with impunity. But my employer 
declared that he was greatly in favor of slavery. He would hsten 
with great interest to my accounts of the advanced state of 
society in the North, and to my views in relation to the disastrous 
results a separation of the Union would bring about, but at the 
close of the conversation he would declare that he was a Southern 
rights man, and that he was in favor of secession. 

Sometimes I thought that he really was what he professed to 
be At other times I doubted it, thinking that, perhaps, he only 
advocated those sentiments to keep in the good graces of his more 
affluent neighbors, by whom he was considered a poor man. At 
all events, if he had been known to be a Union man, he would 
have been obliged to renounce his sentiments or his life after the 
secession vote passed. 

Soon after I was told that there was no money in the treasury, 
I resigned my situation and went to reside in the family of Mr. 
Smith, only eleven miles distant. His father was a prominent 
judge from Kentucky. Mr. Smith was a gentleman in every 
sense of the term. He had received a liberal education and was 
endowed with a natural fondness for literary pursuits. • Mrs. 
Smith was also a pleasant lady, much more intelhgent and sen- 
sible than the mass of Southern ladies. They owned fifteen 
hundred acres of land, and nearly, or quite a hundred negroes. 
They had only three children large enough to attend school, and 
they were to pay me thirty dollars a month, besides board and' 

washing. i • v. 

Some months before I went to reside with this family, a rich 

planter in the neighborhood killed an overseer, in consequence of 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 9 

some charge that the overseer had made against him. For this 
horrible crime the planter was not even arrested. He was not 
even censured by ,the mass of people. But Mr. Smith denounced 
him in severe terms, and said that if the overseer had killed the 
])lanter he would have been hung. 

I cannot present Mr. Smith to you as a specimen of any class 
of men, either in the North or in the South. He was an excep- 
tion to the general rule. And this is the character of the man 
into whose hands it actually seemed to me that I had been thrown 
by Providence in a time of great danger. His influence was not 
only a perfect safeguard to me, but it extended safety to my son 
also, who was still at the landing on the Yazoo river, about 
twenty miles distant. Persons living forty and even fifty miles 
distant in that thinly settled country, were well acquainted with 
each other, and were therefore considered neighbors. 

I will now return to the fall of 1860. Before doing so, how- 
ever, I will say that I make no attempt to please this party, or 
that party, or to displease this or that. 

I must confess that I would like to please all, but I know that 
I cannot do this. I therefore go right on and tell my story, 
relating things as I know they occurred, and I fortify myself with 
the assurance that all truthful and generous persons love the 
truth, even when it makes war with their prejudices. 

I know but very little about politics, but fortunatel}'^, it does 
not require any great depth of knowledge to distinguish right 
from wrong, and to understand that our only safety lies in the 
honest, hearty and vigorous support of our government. Hence 
I cannot see the propriety, especially in these times, of allowing 
partizan predilections to interfere with that support. How any 
man can continually be carping at the great measures of our 
administration, bestowing ribald jests upon its head, or weakening 
the influence of its generals in battle, by unfounded or malicious 
charges, — and call himself a friend of the Union, or the Govern- 
ment, which I take to be one and the same thing, is beyond my 
comprehension. 

We know that if a man is a true Democrat, he should be a true 



10 FOUR YEARS IN SE CESS I A. 

Union man. He will be for sustaining the Government at all 
hazards. He will not tolerate rebellion against the lawful author- 
ities in any form. Hence we know that those who sympathize 
with the leaders of this rebellion are not Democrats, They only 
assume the mask of democracy for the purpose of furthering 
their evil and selfish designs. 

John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, in reply to a remark of 
Commodore Stewart's, charging the Southrons with being aristo- 
cratic in their principles, said, " I admit your conclusion, in 
respect to us Southrons, That we are essentially aristocratic I 
cannot deny, but we can, and do yield much to democracy. This 
is our sectional policy. For the conservation of our interests, we 
are from necessity, thrown upon, and solemnly wedded to demo- 
cracy, however it may occasionally clash with our feelings. It is 
through our affiliation with that party in the Middle and Western 
States that w^e hold power. But when we cease thus to control 
this nation, through a disjointed democracy, or any material 
obstacle in that party, which shall tend to throw us out of that 
rule and control, we shall then resort to a dissolution of the 
Union ! " 

And this is a true picture of your Southern Democrats. Their 
dark, perjured souls could not endure the light of freedom in its 
onward march of civilization. Eather than lose that control, 
which the voice of an enlightened people told them was fast 
passing away from them, they made an attempt to destroy our 
Government, and who can estimate the misery that has resulted, 
and is still resulting from this parricidal course. 

I will now call your attention to the fall of 1860. At this time 
the most intense political excitement prevailed. The people at 
the South were divided mainly into two great parties, under the 
names of " Whig " and " Democrat." The Whigs accused the 
Democrats of aiming at a separation of the Union, and the Dem- 
ocrats accused the Whigs of being favorable to the abolition of 
slavery. To be an abolitionist there, was considered the greatest 
of crimes, for which death in its most appalling shape was but a 
slight reward. 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 11 

Whig conventions and Democratic conventions were held 
throughout the country. Both of these parties were opposed to 
the election of Abraham Lincoln, but the Democrats were the 
most bitter and determined. The speakers of the Whig conven- 
tions maintained that the Democrats were working to overthrow 
the Government. 

Only a few days before the Presidential election a Whig con- 
vention was held in Yazoo City. The Stars and Stripes had been 
planted on each side of the stand and were floating in the breeze. 
There were several speakers, and they occupied the stand in 
succession nearly all day. They were all of them eloquent men. 
They admonished the people to stand by the Union. They said 
the probability was that Lincoln would be elected, but his term 
would expire in four years. He would be obliged to abide by 
the Constitution, and he could do them no harm. If he had the 
will, he would not have the power to interfere with their domestic 
institutions. The idea of his doing so was a humbug, gotten up 
by the Democrats, for the purpose of gaining their great point, — 
a dissolution of the Union. 

One of the speakers, after reminding the people of the common 
cause for which their fathers had fought and bled, and of the 
sacred ties by which the Union was bound, pointed to the Stars 
and Stripes and said : "it is possible, — it is even probable, — that 
many of you will never again be privileged to hail that glorious 
banner as the flag of your country." 

And sare enough, that was the last struggle made for the 
Union in that section of the country ! News soon came that 
Lincoln was elected. The majority of the people believed what 
the Democrats had said, and they madly rushed into the vortex 
of secession. The voice of reason was hushed. Designing dem- 
agogues stood rampant, flourishing the vile banner of disloyalty ; 
and the old time honored flag was not again seen, till . Grant with 
his indomitable army, so ^obly finished up his Western cam- 
paign, and opened up the navigation of the Mississippi and its 
tributaries ! 

After the secession vote passed, the Whigs were looked upon 



12 FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA, 

with suspicion by the dominant party, and persons with any 
Northern proclivities were hardly tolerated, — in fact, watched 
with suspicion. The most determined and desperate measures 
were adopted to compel every one to aid in the rebellion. In our 
neighborhood it was publicly avowed that no "Yankee" should 
leave the place. All who were suspected of being friendly to the 
North were called "Yankees." A gallows was erected on a 
public highway, with the avowed intention of hanging any one 
thereon who might express sentiments in opposition to the seces- 
sion movement. Everybody feared an insurrection of the negroes. 
The reign of terror was absolute ! 

Persons who had formerly expressed Union sentiments, and, 
more especially, those who were late from the North, had now 
double cause for fear. Besides the common danger of an insur- 
rection of the negroes, they were in yet greater danger of losing 
their lives at the hands of an infuriated mob, instigated by some 
rabid secessionist. 

Any hot headed, half civilized secessionist could accuse a man, 
who was suspected of sympathizing with the North, of being an 
abolitionist ; and accusation was generally condemnation. There- 
fore the most horrible murders were perpetrated in different sec- 
tions of the country. 

In Texas, a Methodist preacher was charged with being an 
abolitionist, and he was burned to death with several negroes who 
were found in company with him. And there were people who 
rejoiced over these barbarous cruelties, declaring that they hated 
anything that reminded them of a "Yankee." Some of them, 
especially the secesh ladies, took especial pains to make that 
avowal in my presence, and even to me, because they considered 
me a " Yankee." To those people I had done no harm, not even 
in thought. I was very quiet, as I felt I was obliged to be, 
because I knew very well that the expression of my true senti- 
ments would cost me dear, doubtless the life of my son, if not 
my own. 

I have known ladies, or women who called themselves ladies, 
to attend shooting schools, and I have seen them practising 



FOUK YEAKS IN SECESSIA. 13 

shooting for the avowed purpose of being able to kill the 
"Yankees." 

Two young men, in the immediate neighborhood of Yazoo City, 
were strongly suspected of being in favor of the North. One of 
them was missing, and for a time it was said that he had made his 
escape and returned to the North. But after a time his body was 
found in the Yazoo river ! 

The other one who was suspected, was concealed in the house 
of his partner until his pursuers gave up searching for him and 
had come to the conclusion that he had succeeded in making his 
escape. Then watching a favorable opportunity, his partner, 
with the assistance of two other gentlemen, managed to get him 
to the nearest railroad station, and he finally reached his home 
in safety. 

Another young man, while waiting for a boat in Vicksburg, 
was accused of being an abolitionist, and he was, notwithstanding 
his eloquent entreaties and protestations of innocence, tied hand 
and foot, put into a canoe and sent afloat on the Mississippi river. 
While being tied he spoke of his mother, who, he said would be 
anxiously waiting for him to come home, and he begged that his 
life might be spared for her sake. This touched the sympathy of 
his executioners, and he was about to be released, when some one 
cried out, " he's a liar, he hasn't got any mother. Away with the 
abolitionist ! " He was then hurried off into one of the canoes 
and sent afloat on the Mississippi river ! I have related this 
story as it was told to me by an eye witness, as fortunately I 
was spared the ordeal of witnessing so terrible a scene. Alas ! 
what horrors would that river reveal if it could but speak; 
and how many mothers are waiting in vain for their sons to come 
home ! 

I knew that my son had gained much confidence from the 
planters, by attending to the shipping of their cotton and receiving 
their goods in a satisfactory manner, but I also knew, that much 
doubt was entertained with regard to his sentiments, and that he 
at one time narrowly escaped violent treatment, in consequence of 
incautiously expressing his true opinion. 



14 POUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 

A planter, wTio was not disposed to pay his debts, and whom I 
shall call Simms, was angry at my son for letting some of his cot- 
ton fall into the hands of his creditors, took advantage of his 
having thus incautiously expressed himself, and raised a cry that 
he was an abolitionist. He said that my son had been seen talk- 
ing with Mr. Duff's negroes, and .that he was, according to his 
own avowal, an enemy to the South, and he tried to induce Mr. 
Duif to join in a plan to have him waylaid by his negroes while 
on his way to visit me. But Mr. Duff being friendly to my son, 
protested against it, and informed the gentleman for whom I was 
teaching, of the danger. He went directly to this demon, and 
gave him to understand that he would surely be held accountable 
for any evil that might befall my son. This man was, in conse- 
quence of his dishonesty, unpopular in the neighborhood, and the 
gentleman for whom I was teaching assured me that my son was 
in no danger. 

Still I suffered dreadfully with fear for his safety, and even for 
his life. "With the exception of a very few families, I felt that 
we were alone in the midst of our mortal foes. Some few, in 
Yazoo City, who had formerly befriended us, were themselves, 
for that reason, suspected, and in our terror we were as strangers 
to each other. Finally the most desperate characters volunteered 
and left the country. Three companies had been sent from 
Yazoo City. Those who remained had been formed into home 
guards. Fears of an insurrection of the negroes were dispelled, 
and the country assumed a more peaceful appearance. 

My health, which had been poor for many months, entirely 
failed. My son's business at the landing was dull ; and I finally 
ventured to say that in consequence of my poor health, I wanted 
to go to Virginia, and I wished to take my son with me. The 
■gentleman and lady for whom I was teaching protested against it, 
saying that we would not be safe among those who did not know 
us. The physician who was attending me, and whom I shall call 
Doctor B., was a Yirginian, and he thought otherwise. He said 
I would find the climate of Virginia delightful, and that I would 
rapidly recover strength, even while on my journey. He gave me 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 15 

letters to his friends who were living there, and he procured other 
letters for me from a legal gentleman, who was also a Virginian. 
I gave him a report of the district school I had taught, an account 
of the money that was due me for teaching this school, and an 
order to draw my pay. The money which was due was soon 
handed over. My son partially settled up his business, and in 
September, 1861, we left Mississippi for Virginia. I then began 
to hope that we should be able to get back to the North. At 
Charlottesville, where we spent the first winter, we were received 
with kindness and confidence. Doctor B. and the lawyer had, 
besides recommending us highly in their letters, said that we were 
loyal to the South. I knew very well that it was these letters 
which called forth the confidence, and I did not dare to even men- 
tion the North, much less to disavow the impression made. The 
roads about Charlottesville were thronged with soldiers, who were 
picketed at every station'and every cross road, and it was evident 
that it would only be getting my son into difl&culty to attempt to 
return to the North without the aid of some influential persons. 
We were, therefore obliged to wait. 

The next spring, 1862, the rebels, after having been driven 
from Manassas, and finding that the Union forces were marching 
towards Eichmond, with a prospect of capturing that city, were 
panic-stricken. Detective officers were picking up men wherever 
they could be found, and forcing them into the rebel ranks. 
My son, with others, was marched ofi" to a company at the point 
of the bayonet. He, however, succeeded in slipping away from 
the officers before he was examined or mustered into service. 
We then went to Eichmond, hoping that the city would soon 
fall into the hands of the Union forces, and thus allow us to 
return home. 

The inhabitants of Eichmond were then, to all outward appear- 
ances, in favor of the rebellion. Many of the soldiers and officers 
from the more Southern States, manifested bitter hatred toward 
the citizens, who, they said, were "Yankees." But the mass of 
the people seemed to think that, as a matter of course, everybody 



j4 








*4 ^ irar, >. 

he f^nd P/f p^:»/^ fyft '4Xij tensasn 

V*0*^ 'Aiheffnathati^heSote^idnaoBd, 

m VH&i , MSCKC Thoc was no way of get- 

ting iktf^tt to ir*/«i iJtga f^fwatrjf m eooteqaeaee of die positaon 
w}fM;b tf** Ufrtori f<^>rce« «x/:^pied; and it was &aned by some, 
tfctft^. ' ' tion U/ keep the dty besieged until £uiiine 

COf/,;. niim i/j waxtetyS^T, and at that time it wa= 

<'JAiMtffti\y *7Xf)^/^\ that the city wcmld be obliged to surrender. 
#/#?flr, l)Hv'm, hw, ( yuMtf i(!t, and rnany of the prominent citizens, left 
the eitjr, '/'he Oove'rnrnent HUjr(:n, IV-rt Office, Telegraph Office, 
A/;., r/ere rem/rvyJ f/> c/irne pl?vyj in the interior, (to Denville, I think, 
bit J>./n not rjiiif/j rj'.riMn.) 'I'he city authorities issued an order, 
Hhyhii/^ i\Kd if'ifie " Yn.uV.i-j-M'" overj-^owerefl the Confederate troops, 
iliij eity wotjid l;e nlcilled, ;jj< they had determined not to surren- 
der upon any f/niditioriH wliat^;ver, 

I)ay iiWx duy, uri'l we<;l< afU;r week, w(; were expecting, and 
«oni«; of iitt afixiouHly liopin;.^ for, tlie f^ornnienecment of the 
ait(M'l{, Nip;hl ullnr ni^ht, J waUihcd tlie HJgnal lights on the 
IJuir between Itielirriond and that part of the city called Rockets. 



FOURYEARSINSECESSIA. 17 

Finallv, the long expected battle commenced. The roar of the 
cannon, which was distinctly heard in Eiclunond, was a relief to 
the inhabitants. That sound would frighten away the gaunt form 
of famine, which had for weeks been hovering around and over 
the city ; and I do believe that the majority of the citizens, at 
this time, heartily wished success to the Union arms. 

One evening I walked out, accompanied by several ladies and 
gentlemen, in the direction fi'om whence proceeded the noise of 
the cannon. "We walked a mile or more from the city, until we 
could distinctly hear the noise of the small firms. There we 
stopped and listened, some of us with breathless anxiety, to ascer- 
tain whether the noise of the guns was advancing or receding. 
The noise increased, and before we retui'ned to the city, we were 
confident that the Union forces were advancins;. We then began 
to form plans for dodging the shells, and for the reception of the 
"Yankees."' One lady called them "her brothers,'' and said that 
she had long been waiting for them to come ; and that if they 
would only bring her something good to eat, she would give them 
a cordial welcome. She said, moreover, that she would nurse the 
wounded, and do everything in her power for their relief and 
comfort 

Another lady thought it was a pity that the city authorities 
had not established '• dodging schools " for the people over whom 
they exercised such fatherly care, in order that they might prac- 
tice " dodging," and thus stand some little chance of saving their 
lives, if not their property, by dodging the shells. The fact is, 
we had become so accustomed to terrible sights and sounds, 
that we scarcely feared the shells, and we felt that we would 
gladly risk all the damage they might do, rather than not have 
the city taken. 

During the several days in which the battle raged, couriers 
were continually bringing in reports, — now that the Union forces 
were advancing, and again that they were retreating. At length 
news came that they had been routed with great slaughter, and 
that the Confederate army had gained a great and decisive vic- 
tory. This news was received with great excitement, but not 



18 FOUR YEARS I >: SEC ESSIA. 

with the unfeigned rejoicing with which the news of the battle 
of Manassas was received in Mississippi, July, 1861. It was 
publicly said that the majority of the people in Kichmond were 
inwardly mourning over the defeat of the " Yankees," and that 
they were vainly striving to conceal their true sentiments. 

People from different rebel States flocked into Richmpnd, in 
search of their friends who had been killed or wounded in battle. 
Ladies who, at the commencement of the war, hated anything 
that reminded them of a " Yankee," and who practiced shooting 
for the avowed purpose of shooting the Yankees themselves 
in case the men were defeated, were completely subdued when 
they found that their sick and wounded friends, who fell into the 
hands of the Yankees, were more kindly cared for than those 
who were at the hospitals in Richmond, or any place with their 
own men ; and as I sympathized with them, and wept with some 
of them over their dead and dying, my Northern accent was no 
longer displeasing. 

One lady from Alabama, to whom I had rendered aid, and with 
whom I had sympathized and wept over her dead son, voluntarily 
acknowledged, with much feeling and regret, that if she had met 
me in her neighborhood at the commencement of the war, she 
would have shunned me. " But," said she, " we have long since 
learned that our leaders do not care for us ; that they are cruel to 
our sick and wounded, while those who fall into the hands of the 
Yankees are kindly treated." 

The people then turned their attention to the wounded soldiers, 
who were brought into the city by hundreds, and even by thou- 
sands. The public buildings, tobacco factories, and some of the 
stores, were taken for hospitals. For a time the mortality among 
the soldiers was so great, that it was diflScult to procure burial 
for the dead. In the vicinity of the soldiers' burying-ground, 
which is, perhaps, a mile from Richmond, the air for some dis- 
tance around was so offensive, that it was very unpleasant to 
pass. 

I walked out towards the burying-ground several times, but 
found it so unpleasant that I did not go very near, excepting on 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 19 

one occasion. That was late in the fall ; the mortality had some- 
what subsided, but even then I found it so unpleasant, that 
I only walked through a corner of the ground, and then hurried 
away. At several places there were men digging graves, and 
coffins containing dead bodies were piled one on top of the 
other. 

Their usual manner of conveying the bodies of dead soldiers to 
the grave, was in lumber wagons with the cofl&ns piled up like 
ordinary boxes of goods. For example, a man who was employed 
for that business, would drive up to a hospital and take all the 
dead from the dead-house, providing he could pile them in his 
wagon. ^ 

The Union soldiers who were brought in during, and soon after 
the great battles before Eichmond, were almost entirely un- 
cared for. 

One day, towards evening, I was told that a train of Union 
soldiers, wounded, had been brought to the Eichmond and York 
Eiver Depot, in open freight cars, and that they had been left all 
day in the broiling sun with their wounds undressed, and with no 
one to give them so much as a drink of cold water. I went to 
the depot with a gentleman who was at that time assistant surgeon 
in one of the hospitals. During the day one of the soldiers had 
died, and I noticed several who seemed to be suffering the most 
intense agony. I made a move to go near and speak to one of 
them, but was motioned back by one of the guards. I then 
turned to the doctor and asked him if those men were going to 
be left there to die without even so much as a drink of cold 
water. He inquired of the guard, who told him that some bread 
and water had been sent for. 

We waited until it came, and I saw the water as well as the 
bread sold to the prisoners. I then turned away, wishing in my 
heart that the world would come to an end, so that all this dread- 
ful suffering might be ended at once. 

About this time a squad of Louisianians captured twenty 
Union soldiers in the vicinity of Eichmond, and brought only 
three of them to the city. It was said that the remaining seven- 



^-^^ 



20 FOUR YEARS IN SECESSTA. 

teen had been murdered by their captors. And this was related 
as a praiseworthy act. 

Such was the reign of terror in Eichmond that many who in 
their hearts were loyal to the Union, were actually forced to speak 
of things of that kind indifferently, but I could detect in their 
tones disapproval and horror of such barbarity. 

I tried to comfort myself with the thought that these poor boys 
who had been so cruelly murdered were at last beyond the reach 
of suffering. But their graves were unmarked. Their names 
were unknown. And I wept when I thought of their friends 
at home, who would probably never learn their fate, and who 
would anxiously, and wearily, and oh ! vainly wait for them to 
return ! 

The first of February, 1863, my son was conscripted, and as he 
refused to enter the rebel service, he was put into the conscript 
prison known by the name of Castle Thunder. 

The way men were conscripted by the rebel authorities, detec- 
tive officers are sent to search the farms and houses, and to bring 
the men they found to the Provost Marshal's ofl&ce. At the Pro- 
vost Marshal's office these men were examined by physicians, and 
sent to the field, or some place to serve the government, according 
to their capacity, and physical ability. 

At Castle Thunder, there were men who had been imprisoned 
for many months, for no crime but that of refusing to rebel 
against their own Government, and to fight against their own 
country. 

I wrote to Jeff. Davis, Senator Wigfall, and others, and I 
called upon them many times, and implored them to let me keep 
my son. I contended that we had always abided by the law, 
and that we intended to respect the laws of whatever country we 
resided in ; but we were both conscientiously opposed to fighting. 
That my son had never voted. That we knew nothing about 
politics or war, and that we wanted to know nothing about them. 
"We only wanted to live peaceably in the world where God had 
placed us. 

In one of my letters to Jeff Davis, I told him that my only 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 21 

sail, who was the only near relation T had in the world, had been 
wrested from me and confined in prison like a criminal, and I 
asked to know of what crimes he was guilty, and what law he 
had violated. 

After calling upon Jeff. Davis several times I was at last per- 
mitted to see him. He received me very graciously, and appeared 
very much inclined to reason, but the reason was all on his own 
side. He said he was surprised that I wanted to keep my son out 
of the army. Other mothers were obliged to let their sons go, 
and I must see that he had no right to make an exception in my 
case. He would be glad to give an order for my son's release, 
but he could not do so upon any conditions excepting that he 
should go to the company to which he had been assigned, and be 
a good soldier. This my son refused to do, consequently he was 
retained in prison. 

The rations of the prisoners consisted of bread and meat in 
quantities not as much as it would require to feed me, hence 
many were actually obliged to join the army to keep from 
starving. 

The meat which they had was very poor. My son was under 
impression that it was neither beef, mutton nor pork, and that it 
had not been killed in the usual way of killing meat, and there- 
fore he did not draw any, but instead he drew a double allowance 
of bread, which was nearly as much as he needed, excepting on 
Mondays. Saturdays thej^ drew a double allowance, but would 
always eat it up before Monday, and they could get nothing 
more until Monday evening. Every morning I carried my son a 
quart of milk, for which I paid fifty cents, and almost every 
morning a piece of meat, which was generally given to me by 
some kind friend. Occasionally I would buy ham, eggs, vegeta- 
bles, fruit, &c., for him. For a small slice of ham, not as much 
as a hearty person would require for one meal, I would be obliged 
to pay fifty cents. Eggs, one dollar and fifty cents a dozen. For 
a small chicken, two dollars and fifty cents. For blackberries, I 
paid not over one dollar, nor less than fifty cents a quart. For 
tomatoes and potatoes I paid the same, but I have seen potatoes 



22 FOUK YEARS IN SEC ESSIA. 

sold for two dollars a quart. Muskinelons, three dollars each. 
Watermelons, five dollars. Beets, twentj^-five cents. Apples, 
twenty-five cents. For soap, I paid from one dollar to one dollar 
and fifty cents per pound. 

Sometimes, in compliance with my son's request, I would buy 
vegetables, fruit, meat, &c., only once or twice a week, and then 
get a sufficient quantity for him to share with his room mates. 
Sometimes things would be given to me for my son, and then I 
would be able to furnish them quite a good dinner. 

The prison was crowded to its utmost capacity, and most of the 
time there were seven men in the small room with my son* 
Among his room mates there were, at different times, a Yankee 
lieutenant, a rebel captain, a rebel major and several inferior 
officers. At one time there was quite a celebrated lawyer in the 
room. Men of this class were generally not retained very long. 
They would manage some way to get released. In two instances 
large sums of money were to my certain knowledge, paid into 
General Winder's office to avoid court martials and to procure 
releases. 

The Yankee lieutenant, who had been a paroled prisoner of 
war and had broke his parole, and a lawyer who had been con- 
scripted, were in the room with my son the most of the time he 
was confined. 

The rebel captain and the major had also been conscripted, 
but upon being eonscripted they pretended to enter the rebel 
service willingly. For some reason they were not sent off to a 
company as the mass of rebel conscripts were, but they were 
employed to go about the country to muster men for the ser- 
vice. One of them, as soon as he had mustered a sufficient 
number of men for a company, was made captain. The other 
was so successful that he soon mustered several companies, and 
he was made major of the united companies, which formed a 
battalion. 

Finally a charge was brought against the captain for mustering 
men into his company whom he knew had deserted from other 
companies. The major was charged with the same crime, and 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA, 23 

in addition to that he was charged with having assisted deserters 
through the rebel lines, 

I need not tell you these men had much influence. Their 
object was to avoid a court martial. This thej did avoid by pay- 
ing large sums of money into General Winder's office. And they 
were released. 

Thus months wearily dragged along. Old comrades had been 
released, and new ones came in to take their places. Still my son 
was held in prison for no crime, but that of being faithful to his 
own country, our Glorious Union. 

Plan after plan had been concerted for the escape of himself 
and comrades, only to fail. Hope after hope had been cherished, 
only to be blighted, and I then learned in stern reality "how 
much the heart could bear." 

It really seemed to me that the Union troops did not half try 
to take the city, and that many of the people in the North, as 
well as the mass in the South, had through fear of the tyrants in 
Richmond, become blinded to their own interest. I wondered 
why the Union people in the North did not unite and determine 
to take Richmond, if for no cause but to release the prisoners 
wh© were perishing for want of the ordinary necessaries of life. 

Last May, 1863, it was reported that the Union cavalry had 
made a raid within the fortifications, only one mile and a half 
from Richmond ; that the Union army was near at hand ; that the 
Confederate troops were away in different sections of the country, 
and that the city would surely be taken. 

Jeff. Davis was at his house, sick from fright, occasioned by the 
bread riot which had taken place only a few weeks before. Some 
were so bold as to say that he would be caught in his lair. Then 
in order to conceal their true sentiments, they censured him 
because he had sent the troops away and left the city 
undefended. 

The alarm was sounded through the streets. Every man and 
boy who was able to carry a gun, was, withoiit respect to age, 
marched off to the Capitol Square, where the long roll was being 
sounded, formed into companies and sent to the fortifications. 



24 FOUR YEARS IN SP:CESSIA. 

The horses were taken from the street cars, and all the horses 
in the city were pressed into the service. All the men who were 
employed on public works, and the convalescents in hospitals 
were formed into companies, and sent to assist in defending the 
city. New inducements were offered to the conscripts in Castle 
Thunder, and one full company was raised from that place. The 
Union soldiers on Belle Island made an effort to overpower the 
guard and effect their escape, and several of them were shot. 

The Union trooj^s were hourly expected to be seen marching 
into the city. The next day an alarm was given, and it was said 
that they were coming up Main street, from the direction of Wil- 
liamsburg. I rushed to my room and locked myself up, fearing 
that this would prove as false as other similar alarms had been, 
and that I would, in my excitement, betray myself My window 
opened toward the Capitol Square, which was only a few yards 
distant, and in the direction from which it was said the " Yankees" 
were coming. Women and children were thronging the streets 
and the Square, on the tiptoe of excitement, with distended eyes 
and open mouths, to catch a glimpse of the "Yankees." I looked 
eagerly for the flag, and commenced singing the " Star Spangled 
Banner." 

Soon I heard martial music, but the air was not familiar to me. 
It was not the " Star Spangled Banner ; " it was not " Yankee 
Doodle ; " it was not the spirited music I expected to hear from 
the Union troops, marching into Kichmond. Presently I saw the 
head of the column. There they were, dressed in blue as I had 
never seen rebel soldiers dressed. It surely ijiust be them ! But 
their march is forced and weary. I am breathless with suspense ! 
I do not see the flag ! Is that it ? Yes, there it is ! But I can 
scarcely see it in the distance, it is carried so low. Now I see it ! 
But what do I see ? Alas ! it is the vile, dirty rag of secession ! 
I was still in bondage. I must continue to battle with poverty 
and oppression, and to witness misery in its most appalling form. 
My son must still be held in prison, shut out from the pure air, 
and from liberty, which is so charming to all, and more especially 
to the ardent spirit of youth. I felt how dreadful the disappoint- 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. . 25 

ment would be to all the prisoners, who now seemed inevitably 
doomed to suffer a lingering and horrible death. The most hor- 
rible and appalling scenes forced themselves upon my imagination. 

I saw in reality, not in imagination, men perishing in dungeons, 
for want of air, light, and food ; without one Sympathizing friend 
or one ray of hope to cheer them. 

Escaped prisoners were recaptured ; deserters shot and hung ; 
and in the midst of this soul appalling scene, the rebel authorities 
were gloating their bloodthirsty vengeance^' pronouncing death 
upon men who were guilty of no crime but that of striving to 
free themselves from tyranny, and to gain for themselves, and 
their loved ones, the free gifts of heaven. 

Then another scene presented itself to my imagination. I saw 
the people in the Northern States prosperous and happy, while 
those poor boys, who had risked their lives to save their country 
from the invasion of a fratricidal foe, were suffering the horrors 
of the most inhuman barbarities, and of a lingering starvation. 

I assure you I did not then entertain very amicable feelings 
towards the wealthy and the powerful. My sympathies were all 
with the suffering and the oppressed, as I trust and pray to God 
that they ever may be. 

During all this excitement I was not permitted to see my son. 
I wrote to him every day, but I knew that my letters must be 
read by the captain commanding the prison before they could be 
lianded to him. All the men in his room had left, excepting the 
Yanlvce lieutenant, the lawyer, and himself They were locked 
up in close confinement until the excitement subsided. It was 
truly affecting to witness the sympathy of these boys for each 
other, in connection with their long suffering. The little they 
had, they gladly shared in common with each other. The " Yan- 
kee," as he was termed at the prison, made friends even of some 
of the officers of the prison, in spite of his being a " Yankee," 
and frequently things were given to him. I was paying out my 
salary of forty dollars a month faster than I received it ; and I 
did everytliing in my power to keep up their spirits, and to 
induce them to continue to hope. Often did my heart sink, when 



26 FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 

I saw the hope vanish which I myself had inspired and enter- 
tained ; and as the warm weather advanced, and I saw that my 
son was gradually losing his health and spirits, I began to despair 
of ever getting him released. 

Finally, towards the last of July, 1863, a plan was concerted 
by some rebel officers, who had themselves been forced into the 
service, by which he was enabled to get out of prison, and to 
make his escape through the rebel lines. That night, and more 
especially the exact hour in which I knew that my son would 
attempt to escape from prison, I prayed as I had never prayed 
before. 

If I could tell the exact manner of his escape, it would, doubt- 
less, be interesting; but this I cannot do, as it might possibly 
bring serious trouble upon those who assisted him. When he 
escaped from prison, a carriage was near by, waiting to drive him 
to a place of concealment, a few miles from Richmond. At this 
place there were nearly or quite a hundred men. Some of them 
had been in Castle Thunder ; some of them had been sentenced 
to be shot; many of them were anxiously waiting opportunity 
to pass the lines ; others, who had families and property in the 
South, were trying to remain, and keep out of danger. 

The last time I saw my son, was at this place of concealment. 
He seemed more disheartened than I had ever known him before. 
If he escaped the detective officers, there was danger of his fall- 
ing into the hands of the pickets ; and he knew very well that if 
he was caught, no earthly power could save him. I assure you I 
did not then put my trust in any power that belonged to earth, 
and I did not cease to pray. 

About this time the Union forces were advancing towards Cul- 
pepper. My son, with others, went to Culpepper, and I soon 
received a letter assuring me that they were safe. As time passed 
away and I heard nothing more, I began to feel confident that 
they were safe. But my son had admonished me not to leave 
Richmond before getting word from himself, and knowing" posi- 
tively that he had succeeded in passing the pickets. • 

He was confident that he could, in some way, manage to get a 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 27 

letter to me, very soon after reaching the North ; and I did not 
feel quite sure of his safety until the last of October, when I 
received a letter from him, dated Washington, D. C, August 3d. 
When I first received this letter, I wanted to go to the lady in 
whose family I was teaching, and confide to her my secret. She 
had not only received me into the bosom of her family, and 
extended to me that genial hospitality so peculiar to the upper 
class of Virginians ; but she had rendered me aid while my son 
was in prison. She had shared in my grief and I wanted her to 
share in my joy. But upon reflection I knew that it would not 
be best to inform her of my plans. 

Her husband occupied a high position under government. If 
he knew of my intention he might think it his duty to prevent 
me from going. Then if I was taken prisoner and brought back 
to Richmond, suspicion would at once fasten itself upon her and 
her husband, and I knew that it would be better for them to know- 
nothing of my intentions. 

After much difficulty and a week's delay, a pass was procured 
for me to go to Chai'lottesville. Instead of going to Charlottes- 
ville, I stopped at Gordonsville. While I was waiting at Gor- 
donsville, for an opportunity to go to Culpepper, many Union 
prisoners were brought in, on their way to Richmond. A boy 
was found among the prisoners who had deserted from the rebel 
army, and he was immediately taken to Orange Court House and 
hung. Eight rebel deserters were shot at the same place, about 
the same time. It was said that one of them, as they passed by 
their coffins exclaimed, "boys here is our winter quarters." 

After waiting several days in Gordonsville, a way was made for 
me to go to Culpepper. Here a man had been previously 
engaged to pilot me through the lines. For this he was paid 
$120 in Confederate money. 

While I was witnessing the cruel tyranny and the dreadful suf- 
fering that prevailed in the prisons, in the hospitals, and at other 
places in Richmond ; and subsequently, when I knew that my 
son was in danger of being shot by the guard in his attempt to 
escape from prison, and that if he avoided the guard, he would 



28 FOUR 7EARS IN SECP:SSIA. 

still be surrounded by dangers, — tbat the detective officers would 
pursue him, — that the city pickets, — the pickets on the outposts, 
and all intervening dangers must be passed, I invoked the aid 
of Almighty God, and I solemnly vowed that I would renew my 
diligence, as 1 had never done before, and that I would devote all 
the time, and all the power He would grant me to assist in reliev- 
ing distress. 

Scenes as horrible as those which I witnessed in the South, are 
still being enacted. The fate that may yet befall my son is very 
uncertain, and I can find no rest, but in the fulfillment of those 
deep vows, which are registered in Heaven. 

I had heard of so many outrageous deeds of cruelty and vio- 
lence being perpetrated, by furious demons, upon persons of 
intelligence and refinement ; I had seen such terrible suffering, 
caused by the blind, thoughtless, groundless, and foolish hatred 
which the rebels cherished towards the Yankees, not only as a 
nation, but as individuals ; and I had suffered such tortures, that 
I loathed the rebel country in my very soul, and I longed to see 
my own dear native hills once more. 

With my mental vision, I saw the incomparable scenery of the 
Hudson, the Genesee Eiver, and the Niagara Falls, as I had seen 
them in the days of my youth and prosperity. Then the sad, but 
subdued and softening vision of the dear departed friends who 
had cherished and directed me in those halcyon days, passed before 
me. And then I saw the dreadful change which had swept over 
our country within the last four years. I longed to see the Star 
Spangled Banner ; to hear our good old national airs ; and, above 
all, [ longed to see my own dear son in the land where he was 
then free, and where I hoped to have some influence with the 
people, and even with the Government, which might have a 
tendency to induce them to be more united, vigorous, and deter- 
mined in their efforts to put down the rebellion, and to send 
relief to those poor boys whom I had left starving and withering 
in prison. 

I have never been permitted to speak to any of the Union 
prisoners of war, but I have frequently seen them brought into 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 29 

Eichmond ; I have also seen them on Belle Isle, in the James 
River. I have many times passed by the Libby Prison ; and I 
have seen and learned enough to know that their sufferings, from 
cruel treatment, hunger, and cold, are more terrible than I have 
yet heard them described. 

While my son was in prison, some few persons in authority 
were favorably inclined towards him. One who was high in 
power was in favor of making an exception in his case. One of 
the surgeons who examined him was also in favor of making an 
exception. He was reported by this surgeon to be a delicately 
constituted youth, by no means fit for field service, but to possess 
good business qualifications. This, with a letter which was given 
me, did in process of time procure me the privilege of calling at 
Jeff. Davis' office. I called many times. Several times I found 
the aids engaged in excited and spirited conversation. At one 
time, one of the men, whom I took to be one of the aids, was 
advocating the hoisting of the "black flag,'' I had frequently 
heard it advocated by ignorant, hot-headed secessionists, but I 
had always believed that persons high in power possessed, at 
least, a little common sense and refinement. But I found this 
secession bear blowing away at a terrible rate because Jeff. Davis 
had not prosecuted the war with more vigor, and with more 
cruelty to the "Yankees." He called the Yankees "cowardly 
dogs ; " and he said that if the President had made it known, 
when the war first commenced, that every Yankee who was found 
on the Southern soil should be either shot or hung, the war would 
have ended long ago. 

On one occasion, a prisoner of some note had been brought in ; 
and in one of my calls a violent discussion was being held, quite 
a number of the " chivalry " advocating a summary process of 
shooting, without even the apology of a court martial. Whether 
this was adopted, I did not learn. 

In the early part of November, 1863, before I left Richmond 
provisions had become so high, and the prices were advancing so 
rapidly, that a law was passed fixing the prices of provisions. 
Then commissioners were sent out into the country to search the 



30 FOUR YEARS IN SIOCESSIA. 

farms, and compel persons having produce to bring it to market. 
These commissioners returned with reports, stating that the 
farmers had not a sufficient quantity of provisions to subsist 
themselves through the winter. 

A law was also passed about this time, making it a penitentiary 
offense to trade Confederate for Federal money ; or for selling 
goods any cheaper for Federal than for Confederate money. The 
people were asking themselves, " where is the freedom for which 
we have been so desperately struggling?" 

Public opinion has changed in the South since the commence- 
ment of the war. Within the last few months it has changed 
rapidly, and when I left Richmond it was a common saying, " the 
Confederacy is about played out." 

Great precaution is taken by the rebel authorities to keep the 
people in ignorance. When I left Richmond it was generally 
believed that all rebel deserters were forced into the Union army, 
as soon as they reached the North. 

In the spring of 1863, a few weeks before the Union cavalry 
raid within the fortifications, the famous bread riot occurred. It 
is said that some of the most respectable women of the city were 
among its leaders. At first they were only about twenty in num- 
ber, and they went only to provision stores and took what they 
needed, saying their children were perishing for the want of food. 
But their number was soon increased to several hundred, and 
those who fell in went into stores and shops and seized whatever 
was most convenient Thus the rioters rapidly increased. The 
city authorities were in a great dilemma. 

Order could not be restored by resorting to violent measures, 
because the rioters were the wives, mothers, sisters, &c., of the 
men who belonged to the city battalions, and in case of any 
violent treatment to them, that battalion would be turned against 
the city. Finally, after a few hours of disorder, and lively 
excitement, the authorities by assuring the rioters that they 
should hereafter be abundantly supplied with food, succeeded in 
persuading them to disperse and go to their homes. 

Since that time the families of soldiers who are not able to buy 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 31 

food, have drawn rations from the government. As soon as the 
rioters dispersed, the authorities, in violation of their pledge, had 
some of the leaders arrested and confined in prison. Some of 
them were in prison when I left. 

On the eve of my departure from Eichmond, I concluded that 
I would make an attempt to find myself a pair of shoes suitable 
for walking, as I feared the possibility of my being obliged to 
walk a long distance, and of my shoes giving out entirely before 
I could get througli the lines. I knew just where I could get 
them for fifty dollars a pair, but 1 was going to try to get a pair 
for less than fifty dollars. 

Accordingly I commenced my search, which however, was not 
very extensive, as there were only a few stores in the city. 

I first went to the stores on Main street. Any ladies' shoes? 
No. Any boys' shoes ? No. Finally I at last found a pair of 
rough looking, ill shaped, but soft leather shoes, about two sizes 
too large for me, at the low price of thirty dollars. I had them 
bundled up, paid for and was off in good spirits, thanking ray 
stars because I had been so fortunate as to be able to find a pair 
of shoes for thirty dollars. 

On my way from Culpepper, I met with several hindrances, but 
with no real difficulty. I rode all the way in a small one-horse 
wagon. At the Eappahannack river, I came near falling into the 
hands of the rebel pickets. Had I done so I would have been 
taken back to Eichmond and would, doubtless, have been kept in 
prison during the war. 

I came into the Union lines at Berlin, Maryland. Eeported at 
the Provost Marshal's office, and was sent to headquarters at 
Harper's Ferry. There I was released from custody and per- 
mitted to come on to "Washington. At Washington I learned 
that my son had been sent to Philadelphia. From Philadelphia 
he went to Boston. He there joined the Union army, and is now 
with his company in New Orleans. 

As I have said, I found a few persons, on my arrival in Missis- 
sippi, who advocated secession. But that doctrine was not popu- 
lar with the people, until the fall of 1860, after they had been 



32 FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 

made to believe that, unless they seceded, their negroes would be 
incited to insurrection, — their property wrested from them, and 
they themselves be made worse than slaves, to the most ambi- 
tious, designing and deceiving tyrants the world had ever known. 

On the other hand they were told that if they would but unite 
and determine, they could shun the fetters that were being forged 
for them, and they would be led on to great and glorious vic- 
tories — they would become great and famous, and world renowned. 
They would, moreover, gain for themselves a great and glorious 
country, where they would be permitted not only to preserve, but 
to extend the institutions of their fathers, and their soil should be 
"sacred and inviolate from Yankee pollution." 

Some were so presumptuous as to say, that they would, in time, 
add Mexico, and even Central America to their possessions. 

Some said that the Northern Democrats would rebel, and that 
the war would be in the Northern States. The least they 
expected, was that the Western States would rebel. They 
expected that President Lincoln would be assassinated in Balti- 
more, on his way to Washington, and that in the panic which 
would ensue, troops would pour in from Maryland and Virginia, 
and take Washington without any difficulty. The talk was, that 
they would pass on, after they had taken Washington, to Phila- 
delphia, New York and Boston. When they reached Boston 
they would wreak their vengeance on the inhabitants and raze 
the city to the ground. 

It was thought that the Democrats of the North would join 
them, as they passed triumphantly through the country hurling 
death and destruction around; and that the Northern States 
would, one after another, come knocking at the door of the 
Southern Confederacy for admittance, and that they would admit 
all excepting New England. "They were going to leave her out 
in the cold."* But those delusions have long since passed from 
the minds of the people. They began to vanish from the minds 

* A reveread gentleman, in one of his discourses, says: " You remember they were going to 
leave New England out in the cold. Well, she was out in the cold one day on Plymouth Rock, 
and while there she invented ^ Freedom to worship God.^" 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 33 

of a few, soon after the battle of Manassas, and they seemed to 
entirely disappear at the time of their first raid into Maryland. 

They, gave way to a dismal howling, when they found that 
their desperate and chivalrous attempts to wrest Maryland from 
the tyranny of the National Government, and place her nnder the 
mild reign of Jeff. Davis' Administration, was not appreciated by 
her people. 

The first report of the victory of Manassas caused great 
rejoicing, but, by degrees, as they learned what that victory had 
cost them, their joy was turned to sorrow. The rebel leaders 
made a desperate effort to conceal the result of that battle, and 
to keep up the courage of the people ; but in spite of all those 
efforts, the truth finally made its appearance, and it was currently 
reported that another such victory would ruin them. 

They now know that their leaders have all the time been try- 
ing to deceive them. They say that when they hear they have 
gained a victory they expect it will turn out to be a defeat, or 
equivalent to one, — that they cannot understand how they can 
be continually gaining such great victories without gaining any 
apparent advantage or even retaining their own territory. They 
say that all their victories have cost them dear, and that they 
have by seceding, brought upon themselves the very disasters 
their leaders said would befall them if they did not secede. 

They now say that they did not know when they were well off. 
That they were induced to believe they must go to war and fight 
for their liberty, when they already had too much liberty. That 
they were prosperous and happy while in the Uoion, but that 
they are now worse off than the meanest slaves ; and that they 
believe that if they had remained in the Union, their prosperity 
and happiness would have continued. 

I had good opportunity, especially while my son was in prison, 
of becoming acquainted with the sentiments of all classes. 

At the commencement of the war, and even after we went to 
Eichmond, it was considered a dreadful disgrace to be imprisoned 
for disloyalty to the South, but by the time my son was thrown 
in prison, February 1st, 1863, many had changed their opinions 



34 FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 

in that respect, and my son's imprisonment, instead of being 
imputed to him as a disgrace by a large class of people, brought 
us nearer to them, and we had no lack of friends. But unfortu- 
nately, our friends were, many of them, even worse off than our- 
selves, and those who had power dared not exercise it openly and 
directly in our behalf! 

Soon after my son was imprisoned, I became acquainted with a 
number of of&cers who gave me to understand that they were in 
the service only because they were obliged to be. Had my son 
not been imprisoned, I would have supposed those ofiicers the 
most determined. 

In the fall of 1863, I heard many ofiicers, some who ranked as 
high as major, express their discouragement, and say they did not 
see how they could hold out through the winter, and it seemed to 
be the general impression, among the most thoughtful, that if 
they gained their independence it would avail them nothing, 
because they would then go to fighting among themselves ; 
that South Carolina, Georgia, and other States would secede from 
the Confederacy, and that the Confederate Government would not 
admit that they had a right to do so. It was truly astonishing 
and instructive to witness the change that came over the minds of 
the people as they were overtaken by poverty and distress. 

I visited the hospitals, and truly sympathized with all whom I 
found in distress. This gained me the confidence of some of the 
most determined rebels, who could not conceive the idea of sym- 
pathy for an enemy, however great his distress. I had good 
opportunities for becoming acquainted with the true sentiments of 
the people, and I do know that if they were left to exercise their 
own free will they would gladly return to their allegiance. 

They have lost all confidence in their leaders. They are drink- 
ing the bitterest dregs of disappointment, and they are over- 
whelmed with untold miseries. They would now gladly fly to 
that government, which they have been trying to overthrow ; and 
there, under the glorious banner of freedom, seek protection from 
those merciless tyrants, who so villainously oppose the march of 
civilization, and the progress of human liberty. 



FOUR YEARS IN SECESSIA. 35 

I have thus endeavored in my very imperfect manner, to depict 
my observations and sufferings during a residence of four years 
in Secessia. And I can only add my testimony to that of all 
who have had the opportunity of personally viewing the rise and 
progress of this ill-starred rebellion. It is emphatically a rebel- 
lion of aspirants — tyrants — men who are determined to rule or 
ruin. The mass of the people are not with them, — at least those 
who are refined or intellectual. 

True it is, and 'tis pity 'tis true, there is great need of the 
school master here. But I am confident that the people of the 
South are now rapiJly awakening from the delusion forced upon 
them by their ambitious leaders, and the day is no|; far distant 
when we shall, as of yore, rejoice in one Country — one Union — 
one Flao; ! 



TESTIMONIALS, 



The following is a copy of a lettei- from Rev. Samuel Aaron, Baptist Clergyman 
in Mount Holly : 

The bearer of this is Mrs. E. C. Kent, a native of the State of New York, a resi- 
dent for several years in Mississippi, and recently a refugee from Richmond. She 
is a lady of refinement and education, and in connection with her son has suffered 
much on account of her attachment to human liberty and the Union. 

Last evening she read in the Baptist Meeting House, veiy efl'ectively, to two hun- 
dred persons, the most intelligent in this place, a well written and touching narra- 
tive of the adventures and sufierings of herself and son. 

He escaped last August, from the thraldom of a Richmond prison, and she some 
months afterwards. He has enlisted in the Union army, and she wishes ti:) see him 
in New Orleans, and to resume, in that place, her avocation as a teacher of youth. 

If you think it best to aid her in getting a public hearing in your town, you will 
find her worthy of your help. 

She sits and reads with much propriety, and her whole deportment is, in my 
opinion, lady-like. She has good vouchers of character and standing. 

Your friend, very truly, 

SAMUEL AARON. 



BuELiyGTON, Feb. i6th, 1864. 
To xohom it may concern: 

The bearer of this is Mrs. E. C. Kent, a native of the State of New York. Mrs. 
Kent is a recent refugee from Richmond. She read a lecture in the Baptist Church 
in this place last evening, embodying a narrative of her adventures in, and escape 
from the South, and also of the imprisonment of her son in Castle Thunder, whence 
he subsequently escaped, and is now in the Union army. 

Mrs. Kent's narrative is well written, and was so well road that all present were 
very much pleased with it. She is a lady of intelligence, and has good vouchers of 
character and standing. KELSEY WALLING, Pastor. 

EDWARD HAAS. Principal, 

Of Public Schools. 



Bethlehem, Pa., March 2d, 18G4. 
Mrs. Kent, the bearer of this, has been giving several lectures in Bethlehem, 
detailing an account of her adventures in Secessia, which have proved very inter- 
esting. I therefore cheerfully commend her to all into whose hands these lines 
may fall, as one every way worthy of confidence and encouragement. 

REV. SYLVESTER WOLLE. 



Bethlehem, March 1st, 1864. 
Mrs. Kent has read her narrative before the pupils of the Young Ladles' Mora- 
vian Seminary, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Her style of composition and reading 
are good, and we think her narrative will prove interesting to the public generally. 

F. WOLLE, Principal. 



Easton, March 4th, 1864. 
Mrs. Kent brings letters from high authority, giving assurance of her good faith 
and devotion to the Union, and of her means of giving interesting information in 
relation to rebeldom. ' HON. A. H. REEDER, 

HON. H. D. MAXWELL, 
SAMUEL COOLEY, Esq. 
The lecture given last evening at the Pynchon Street Church, by Mrs. Kent, the 
Richmond refugee, was well attended and proved very interesting. Many facts 
were stated that were new and instructive in regard to life at the rebel capital. — 
Springfield (Mass.) Repuhliccm, June 7th. 

Mrs. Kent, the Richmond rei'ugee, gave a very interesting lecture last evening in 
the Pynchon Street Church, of her experience in rebeldom. Those who heard it 
speak well of it, and by general desire it is to be repeated this evening at the same 
place. — Springfield Baily Union. June 7th. 



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